This blog is moving....

I'm moving this Bike Friday Tikit Blog to a new location - here. It will be combined with my other bike blogs for a one stop bike blogging experience!

If you just want to read about folding bikes - no worries. When you jump to the new blog you will see at the top right a section of links titled "categories". If you click on folding bikes you only see the folding bike related posts and this is essentially the content from my Tikit Blog just in a new location/format.

Also note that if you only want to read about the Tikit you can do that as well. Just look near the bottom of the right side of the screen on the new blog and you'll see a section of links called "Tags". If you click on "Tikit" you'll only see posts about the Tikit. You can click on "Bike Friday" and only read posts about our favourite folding bike company.

I will be moving all the content from this site over to the new blog - although that process may take some time. This site will remain active until Blogger sees fit to get rid of it so until the transition is complete you can use this site as an archive and the new site to read any new content.

This is officially the last post on this blog. All future posts will be at the new location.

Tis the season!

There is snow and ice on the streets again...*sigh*...and so it was time to remove the Greenspeed Scorchers and replace them with the stock Schwalbe Marathons. To say I like the Scorchers is an understatement. They are fast. comfortable and flat free - what more could you ask for? I inspected them closely to see if there was any damage from a whole season of riding Calgary's mean streets....zero...nada...not one cut or mark on them. Amazing as I don't baby them and ride right through whatever is litering the streets and alleys of downtown. I'll be happy to put them back on next year, but at the same time I'm looking forward to continuing to ride my Tikit all winter. I probably should get some real studded tires, but I haven't seen any in 349 size and I need to wear out the stock tires in any case.

If you own a Tikit get yourself some Greenspeed Scorcher TRs you won't regret it.

Back in the saddle..=-)

I've been in a cast for 6 weeks now and on crutches for most of that time so you'll have to forgive the lack of posting. The good news is that I'm walking on the cast now [which means I can bike on it!...=-)] and I'll start getting ride of the cast this week with some physiotherapy assistance.

I've already been out on one ride so far to pick up a rental car [can't drive my truck as it's standard] - of course I used my Tikit so I could just fold it and throw it in the trunk. My second mission will be to ship a box on my way to the physiotherapist's tonight. I told the physio that my Tikit was my mobility device and the only way I could make it over...lol...just to ensure I could bring it in with me.

I'm not at full speed by any means, but it feels so great to be back on the mean streets riding the Tikit. On benefit to the cast is that drivers seem to give an injured rider wide berth!

An oldie, but a goodie...

This video was a big factor in convincing me to buy a Tikit. Watching this and then folding/unfolding my Dahon left me deeply unsatisfied with the Dahon:

Thanks Bike Friday!

I rec'd the spare parts I ordered from Bike Friday alast week and got around to installing them today. It's definitely one of the benefits of buying a bike from a small North American company to be able to call/email and get the small parts you need to keep your bike running nicely.

I used a bit of shoe goo so I wouldn't be as likely to loose the small rubber foot that one end of the Tikit rests on when folded. The metal latch above replaces a plastic piece on the older model Tikits and holds the seatpost of the Tikit in place when folded. The plastic latch has lasted nearly a year of constant folding and although it was looking a bit beat up it was still going strong, but Bike Friday proactively identifed these plastic latches as a weak spot on the bike and came up with a long term solution that was more durable - smart.

Bike Friday Partners with Transit System

Photo: Bike Friday

This video takes about Bike Friday's new partnership program with a local transit service. What is quite smart is this program solves problems for all involved:

• Bike Friday gets some marketing help and sells bikes.

• The transit folks get more customers interested in their service who wouldn't have used it before without the help of a folding bike at the beginning and end of their journey.

• The transit customer learns about and new way to commute that might make their trip easier or might make using transit feasible if it wasn't before. The customer also gets info on where to buy these odd bikes and knows the transit service will allow them on their buses.

The great thing about folding bikes & transit is that they compliment each other well. Transit doesn't always go exactly where you need to go and biking the whole way is often too much for people. By using the transit service to cut down your trip into a manage distance to ride you make biking feasible for a lot more people. Plus the transit start and end points can be a bit further from a potential user's start and end point with the bike rides making up the difference.

Hopefully once you get folks out on a bike - even for short trips - they'll start to enjoy it more and see the obvious benefits of a biking lifestyle...=-)

Tikit's rubber foot goes MIA..

I managed to lose the small rubber foot [shown above the chainring in the photo above] on my Tikit. Not really sure how, but it has seen loads of use so I shouldn't be surprised. I emailed Bike Friday and they popped one in the mail to me the next day - thanks! - some more great Bike Friday service...=-)

I'll be cleaning the post the rubber foot mounts to and using some Shoe Goo to help keep it in place.